Sports lawyer Tom Murray has given a timeline on a verdict on Manchester City's 115 Premier League financial charges as Pep Guardiola is set to leave the club
10:17, 19 May 2026
Manchester City
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Man City will have to wait for their 115 charges verdict(Image: Getty Images)
Manchester City may be found guilty of at least some of the 115 charges brought against them by the Premier League, but it wouldn't be shocking if a final verdict still required more than two years, according to sports lawyer Tom Murray.
The founding partner of the Three Points law firm expects this procedure will remain protracted and complicated by the appeals process. City face accusations of violating financial regulations over a nine-year stretch from 2009.
The probe was launched in 2019 and featured claims regarding the club's financial documentation and failure to cooperate with the inquiry. The club - whose manager Pep Guardiola looks set to leave at the end of this season - deny any wrongdoing.
Pep Guardiola has been told to expect a positive response from the Manchester City squad to news of his planned exit
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Pep Guardiola is set to leave Manchester City at the end of the season(Image: (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images))
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The charges were revealed in 2023, with City confronting 54 allegations of failing to supply accurate and current financial data from 2009/10.
They additionally face 14 alleged violations of failing to submit precise financial records concerning player and manager remuneration across the same timeframe.
The tribunal commenced in September 2024 and ran for 10 weeks, yet all sides remain waiting for a result. The number of charges and gravity of the accusations seem to have played a part in the lengthy delay for a judgment, with the case being unparalleled in English football.
Murray thinks the volume of charges will ultimately see City found guilty of at least some. But, despite ongoing speculation about when the case's verdict might emerge, the solicitor refrained from predicting a timeline, having claimed to have spoken with those working on the proceedings.
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This handout picture provided by the UAE Presidential Court shows UAE Vice President and Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan (C), who also is the majority owner of English football club Manchester City FC, posing for a photo with the club's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola (2nd-R) and other members of the management along with Khaldoon Khalifa al-Mubarak (2nd-L), Managing Director Group CEO of Mubadala Investment Company, during an event celebrating the club's fourth consecutive Premier League title at Qasr al-Watan in Abu Dhabi on June 13, 2024. (Photo by Hamad AL-KAABI / UAE PRESIDENTIAL COURT / AFP) / === RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / UAE PRESIDENTIAL COURT- NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS === (Photo by HAMAD AL-KAABI/UAE PRESIDENTIAL COURT/AFP via Getty Images)(Image: UAE PRESIDENTIAL COURT/AFP via G)
"I don't think anyone knows," Murray told the Price of Football podcast. "I've spoken to barristers working on the case, and even they don't know when the decision will be released. As much as I would like to speculate, I think it would be pointless," reports the Mirror.
"What do I think the outcome is going to be? I think Manchester City are going to be found liable, in breach of something. With the number of charges there are I don't think they are going to get away with this.
"But this is going to be strung out for as long as possible and I think we can expect an appeal and we'll be back in the same position. In two years' time, it wouldn't be surprising if we still don't have a final outcome."
By contrast, former City financial adviser Stefan Borson reckons the club will receive a verdict 'quite soon'. He has hinted it could land by the end of the season.
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"I think it's coming quite soon, but then we have said that before, right?" he said. "My best guess and the kind of feeling in the parties is that it will come at the end of the season.
"June would be most likely, that's the feeling. There's no justification now from a kind of how long it takes to write this up, there's no justification now.
"This is now ridiculous territory. 18 months to write up a decision in a private arbitration is clearly ridiculous. There's been little things that I've heard that would signify that we are coming to the end of the process of writing it up."